If everyone is happy, no one is happy

kakosekosi

by kakosekosi

Story

Only three days to go. My request to take part in project PROSINFU has been approved. I didn’t expect them to accept someone like me. This kind of technology is usually accessible only to those with a lot of money or power.
PROSINFU stands for “Prosperity In (the) Future”. It was brought to life by continuous research in anti-aging and hibernation technology. It resulted in hibernation chambers in which a human could survive for a few decades.
Recently, the demand for this hibernation technology has died down. Maybe this is what caused the project to open up to the general public? It’s surprising to see that PROSINFU LLC, the company behind the technology’s development, offers their d̶̩͎͆̔̒̍̃͒͝e̴͔̜̐͂͑̉͌͗́͛͜ą̸̳̗̪̰̬̜̰̱̬̳̮͐̾͐̓͋͝ţ̷̛̗͚̤̣̦̗͓̜͂̆̏̇͊̓̊̊͛͗͘ḫ̴̨̭̥̜̫̩͔͗͂̂͒͒͂̔̐̏̔̂̂̐͘ services for free, even now that it’s open to everyone.
A few days ago, I got fired from my job in customer service. HR assured me that the company’s commissions had gone down and therefore, they had to let go of some employees. I know the real reason behind the huge wave of layoffs is yet another breakthrough in A.I. and their ability to mimic humans indistinguishably. Another catalyst is the newly adopted regulation for the use of A.I., loosening a company’s restrictions and getting rid of mandatory compliance requirements.
When the day finally arrived, I went to the nearest hibernation center. I entered this “hall of hibernation”, and was greeted by a lovely receptionist with a warm welcome. The hall was huge, at least 50 stories high and there were row after row of capsules, three meters tall, each row containing at least one hundred hibernation chambers. I took a look at the ID that I was assigned by the receptionist and started walking toward the gate and got on an escalator that led to my personal capsule. Ṫ̷̢͔̮̓̈̐̈́ͅĥ̷̭̿̑̆̆̅̽̂́͐͐́͌̓͝͝e̶͈͎̻͖̻̖̣̺͚͛̈́̈́̅̈͂͘͝r̸̪̺̼̬̱̫͇̖͚͆͊̐͌̄͋́̉͘e̷͚̘̬͖͕͓̺̮̘͕͔̔̾ ̴̧̡͕̜͓̠͎̾̑̊͊̒̀̐̑̈́̎́͋͊̌̆́͋͜i̶̹̳͇̘̥̓̒͒͗̉̇̊̆͌̉̋̑̍̀̂̕̕͜ṣ̸̡́͒̊̌̌̏̆̑ ̸̢̭͍̯̬̭̪̬̯͓̭̭̘̗͚̬̒̇̀̏͊͐͒̂̇͛͜͠n̶̢̹̬̳̼͆̏̆͛̈́ō̵̝̗̪͉͕̬̈̽͆͆̄̆͝ ̴̦̤̭̹́̓̌̉͒̐̉͑̐͠͝ͅg̴̡̨̯̖̙̜̩̟͓̪̽̉͂͜o̴͇͇͇̤̖͗̈́̽͗̽̉̌̏̅̊̓͜ì̷̧̧̫̝̱͕̮̬̜ņ̴̨̛̤͇͍̬̥͇͙͓̘̩̂͌̀́̔̋̓́͑̐́̓̕̕͝͠ǧ̷̗̦̰͚̻͚̝̤̪ͅ ̶̖͎͚̘̺͒̍͑̑̄̈͝b̸̢̼͍͇̱̞͍͖̺͙̗̖͕̩̠͊̿̔̋͑̀͐͂̃̌̎̕a̷͖͙̻͒͛͑̌͌͐̈́̈́͌͘͘c̷̝͈͕̠͖͓͆̐͆͐̉̏̈̉̄͂͛̾̅̈́̚k̴̛͇͚̩͚̪̮̼͉̗͚̜̙̩̫̹̲̺̓́̈̊͊͆͘̕͝͠͠.̸̥̩̺̲̘̣̪̖͉̞̱͓̝͚̓̽͌̓͘͠͠ͅ.̷̧̢̦̪̝̖̫͇͍̞̣͈͉̜̬͙̀̌͑͂̈́̀͌́͆
From the escalator, I could see a big monitor showing what looked like the hall’s capacities slowly filling up. But something was off. The label above the infographic said “global numbers”. There was no way that was possible. How could the global hibernation numbers reach 100%? On my way here, there was dense traffic and some of the coffee shops were chock-full of people getting their coffee. Still, this number had just ticked up from 99.999% to 100%. What a stupid mistake. If the numbers were really 100%, meaning every single human being entered hibernation chambers, then there was no use in even going into hibernation in the first place. The main goal of hibernation for most was to leave the depressing present and wake up in the future, where cancer will be cured and everything will be free due to an overabundance of available resources. No one will have to work anymore. But if no one stays in the present to build that future, the future is never going to become reality. Now that I thought of my way over here, I remembered the female taxi driver. And that one coffee shop, where one poor barista had to serve all the customers all on her own. Both of them had one thing in common. They looked exactly like t̴̨̛̞̖̟̺̪̖̫͔̙̞̱̫̬̮̤͎͒̏̂̔̃̂͊͒̎̃̔̈́͛̕͘͝h̶͕͓̞͕̽̍͛̔͊̎̉̅̄͐̀́̄͑̔̎͝ĕ̵̡̖̖̒͋̓̐ͅ ̵̨͕̟̳̠͕̭͇̰͙̤͈͖̥̜̑̄̽̒̓̄̊́͑́̄̒͜r̵̛̖̮̀̇́͒́̈́̄͆̓̀̍̊͝ę̶̣̝͚̮̄̆́͗̋̾̀͆͑̉̽́͘͘c̵̡͙̳̘̹̯͔͚̥̦̆̊́͆͛è̵̢̧̺̞̟̪̣͓͔̯̲̪̝̥̟͑̇͛̕p̷̠͈̭̫̹͙̘͉͉̻͙͕͕̟̗̫̞̉̈́̅t̶̝̲̤̥̹͚̤̳͓̖̖̭̤̖̊͋͆́̒̎̊͝ͅi̷̢̛͕̘̭̦̘̳̖̳͂̾̑͑̈o̶̢̨̮̘̮̥̱̖̻̰̦̜̓ṇ̴̢̢̢͍̙͕̱̞̗̖̙̗̔̃̾̓͑͂̔̃̿͐̒͊͐͊̚ǐ̶̹̘̮̦̼͚̮͕͈̘s̶̳̺͎̦͎̤̤̯̖͉̯̱͖̋͑̌̀͌̈́̓̋̒͛͛̕͘͠͝͝͝t̶̯̃̅͑̉̊́̿̓̆̒̏̍̐͋̚͝.̵̣͖̬̘͒̃̒̍̐͌̒͗
Wait, who looked like what? I lost my train of thought. The monitor was still filled with t̷͈̝͖͙̓͂̀͂̓͐́̎̌̂h̴̨̛̪̫̰͙̫̝̱̥̣̯̠̰͕̪̙̎̈́́ͅẻ̷̦̄̃̈́̑̓̐͂͂̚͝͠͠ ̵̭̞̩́͗̀͋h̶̝̝͈̮̞͈͚̫̜͙̔͐̓͛̊̏ḁ̸̗̹̝̆̆͌̆̅̌̑̊͆̔͐̇͗l̸̛͕͇̣͌̔̂̃͑̌̈́͆͠l̷̹̤͖̼̘̻̖͍͂́’̵̻͓̳̟͓̖͚̞̞̺͓̫̣͔͎̝̞̇͑̀̋̉̇́ş̴̨͙̥͙̥̙̋ ̵͕̠̙̮̮͐̀̇͗̋̿͗͗̈́͗̓͝c̵̨̡̮̥̜͇̬̯̤̣̯̫̮̖̦̈́̀̒̒̐̇̀̈̏̈́̂͠ã̶̛̰̞̈́̇̏̎͛̏p̵͈͖̱̤̃̄́̎̉͂͌̈́̃̅̌̽̕̕͝ą̸̦̤̞̰̝̹̭̮̹͚̬͖̤̝̏̒̂̈̽͛̒̚͝ç̴̛̗̙͈̟͖̦̈́́̓̿̍̽̈́̈̀̔̅̎͛̃͜͝͝ī̵̢̤̹̗̭̜͕̜̱̓̅̀͘͜͝t̷͖̲̱͇̂̂͗̄̆̈́̈́́̍̌̑̅̐͊̋̚͝y̵̟̰͎̠̝̩̪̭̞̦̝̳̋̃̅́̈́͛́̉̐͐̽̑͘͠͝͝ ̷̡͍̗̠͒͝ṅ̴̝͎͌̽̄̎̄͑̀͝͝û̵̢͎̮̤͈̫͙̀̎̔́́̔̃͐̇̊̑̀̓́̚ͅm̴̡̛͔̤͖͈̲̣̩͚͈͖͕̙͋̃̿̋͗͊͗̓̆̚̕͜͝b̶͚̝̃͗͒̊̇̌̊̕e̸̡̡̻̮͍̯̜̠̽̊͂͐́̉̀̆̀̃͒̕̚͘͠r̵̢̡̧̛̜̟̣̝͕̼̥̙͎̣̦͓̤̀̔̓̔́̈͊͗̀͠͠s̵͉̫̠̰̤͍̯̥̬̥͎̹͉̖̝̃͋́͛̔̅̃̒̒̚͘.̵̠̖̞͕̰̞̜̺̪̞͉̅̉͜͠ At least those pictures of mountains had a calming effect on my nerves. I can’t wait to see what the future will be like!

© kakosekosi 2024-09-11

Genres
Suspense & Horror